7 Quick Takes Friday #65

See more 7 Quick Takes Friday contributions at Jennifer Fulwiler's Conversion Diary.

This has been a much better week than last week. I spent most of it visiting our Georgia site, where I could visit with daughter Lizzie; then today, I got to go to my deputy's retirement ceremony and after that to share dinner with a friend from Uzbekistan.

More important, though, were the God moments that pervaded this week. Seven of them are shared below.

1. This week as I have traveled to and from Georgia, I have been reading an interesting book: The Overcomer's Anointing by Barbara Yoder. In spite of the strangeness (to me) of the title, the book has turned out to be enlightening. I purchased it in order to learn more about spiritual warfare in order to help a friehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnd who is in the throes of a dark night of the soul. Yoder's take on the dark night is that this is a period of transformation, that God uses such a period before transforming many things, including the creation of the earth. Although this is indeed in keeping with the works of St. John of the Cross, Yoder's book is more accessible than Dark Night of the Soul.



2. I was accompanied to/from Georgia by a colleague, Sue. We were a little concerned that she did not have a confirmed seat on the flight back. Apparently, the plane had been oversold by seven people. It was important that we travel together because Donnie was picking us up in San Francisco (more than an hour away), and Sue, who lives yet another hour south, was planning to come home with me and stay overnight, then continue home. Not arriving with me would really complicate matters. Luckily, volunteers appeared to give up seats, and she got the third one. Whew! We happily clambered into the plane where I found that my seat, alas, was non-reclining, in the last row (aisle, at least), and right in front of the toilet. I figured it was going to be a long 5.5 hours, but had accepted the reality of the situation, telling myself that someone had to be in that seat and it might as well be me, when the person in the middle seat appeared and asked if I would change seats with his friend who was seated in a B seat in row 20. I concurred -- after all, who wants to separate friends? I figured a middle (B) reclining seat was no worse than an aisle non-reclining seat. Imagine my surprise when I found out that 20B was in the exit row -- and there was no A seat. Was God rewarding me for accepting my lot to begin with and being willing to help out a stranger in the second place? I wonder... (In any event, it was a late evening flight, and I reclined the seat, donned an attitude of gratitude, stretched out, and slept the whole way home!)



3. Once home, it was nearly morning, but I got a few hours of sleep, then quickly looked through the mail that had arrived during the week. One was a note from the new formation director at the Secular Franciscan Order (SFO). He will be replacing Goliath. Yes! His note revealed that there would be a place now for God in our formation. Yes!




4. When Sue arose in morning, she took one look out our window at the view of our town and valley and remarked that we are close to heaven here. We are indeed. She agreed that not only the house was a blessing but also that there is likely a reason we are supposed to have it because everything was so "right" about getting it, including the price, which was considerably lower than the house is worth and exactly in the price range that we could afford and were looking for. For that reason, we had no trouble getting a VA loan, and I had, surprisingly, no trouble finding my 1978 (!!) VA certificate of eligibility.



5. I always go to Mass on Friday -- well, almost always. Sometimes events intervene. Today I was going to be late, so I decided to skip Mass. At that point, my admin assistant appeared in my office, reminding me that Mass was starting. I commented that I did not have time to arrive before Mass began, and she commented, "God understands if you are late." I was briefly contemplating whether or not to go when a colleague's admin assistant popped in and made the same comment! Considering that God might be sending me a message, I decided to go. I am glad I did. The rest of the day is always better when I do.




6. My deputy retired today. I will miss him. He brought a spiritual flavor to all our interactions. (A Roman Catholic like me, he wants to study theology in his retirement, and when he showed up three years ago, I knew God had sent him to me.) True to style, his parting remarks left us spiritually rejuvenated -- this in an organization that insists on the separation of church and state.




7. This week I had another go-round with God's credit card. I had not intended to use it for a personal purchase, but I really got stuck two weeks ago. We had to get a special bed for Donnie, who has been unable to sleep in our current bed because of his sleep apnea, gout, and infected leg. He needed an adjustable bed, and those are very expensive, especially one that we can share. We found an appropriate bed in San Jose. I assumed that we would be able to get the bed on credit, but the cost of the bed was such that the company would only allow half the cost to be put on its credit. Stuck there and having God's credit card with me that would easily handle the other half, I hesitated, sighed, then handed it over. Well, as in the past when I have used the card, God changed matters. The company sent a second credit account in the mail this week. Donnie called today and asked what that meant and was told that we can transfer the amount we put on God's credit card to this second credit account and there would be no interest charged as long as we paid off the account on time (in three years). Wow! It seems quite clear that God intends to keep God's credit card open for God's needs, not mine. This is the second time I have been given a new credit card to which to transfer a balance. Unreal!




I wish you a pleasant weekend!

7 Quick Takes Friday #61

See more 7 Quick Takes Friday contributions at Jennifer Fulwiler's Conversion Diary.

I have not posted for quite some time to the 7 Quick Takes Friday -- for a month, give or take a week or so, it would seem. So, this week I figured I would pull out the most salient of the experiences of the past weeks.

1. Burying Biseh. The little cat who purred like a trible (for those familiar with Star Trek, the original series) and whom we brought back from Jordan five years ago for our grandson Nathaniel was hit by a car recently. Biseh, which means "cat" in Arabic, had wandered around our campus in Amman as a feral cat for some time when I found students kicking her, so Donnie and I adopted her. Bringing her back was quite easy. Surprisingly, for a feral cat, she slept peacefully all the way home under my plane seat. Nathaniel quickly bonded with her and loved the way that she became overexcited when she was petted and began to make high-pitched rumbling sounds (just like the tribles on the Star Trek episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles"), so he was quite distraught, so our son Shane let Nathaniel decide what we should do with Biseh's body. Since Shane and family live in a rented house, Nathaniel decided he would like to bury her under our tree and come visit her often. So, that is what we did, and that is what he does.

2. Meeting little tigers at a birthday party. Noelle and her roommate (who moved in after Ray died) recently adopted two tiger-striped kittens (orange tabbies, one each). One is named Angel, and I forget the name of the other one. (No, it is not Devil!) Not long after Ray, Noelle's husband of ten years, died, her cat, Prince Shadow, died. It was definitely not a good year for her last year. So, it is good to see that she has found a diversion and a way to love again, even if it is one of the smaller of God's creatures.

3. Old Mission stuff. Once a year Old Mission has a fiesta to raise money for various projects and needs. The Mahlou family is always one of the cleaning crews. We were the first crew this year because I had quite a surprise for that day. A few days earlier I got a call from a mutual friend who told me that the woman, Lida, with whom I had often stayed when I was doing consults in Uzbekistan in the 1990s, was in town, her first visit ever to the USA. She and her granddaughter and local relatives came to the fiesta, so for once I only worked for one shift and then enjoyed a very special day with a very special friend. (For more details, see my earlier blog about this: Our Amazing Modern World.) The following Sunday (last Sunday) was confirmation for the 16 kids who were in my catechism class last year. As is traditional, the bishop came for the confirmation, and the kids in my current class, hosted the cake and strawberries that were served in the mission gardens after Mass.

4. A threatening visit. Our office had quite a threatening visit from headquarters last week. An inspection team came for the purpose of deciding which of our branches/programs would be closed because of lack of money. (Yes, the economy is hurting us, too.) We all prepared assiduously, rehearsed our presentations multiple times with the CEO coming around and murder-boarding all of us senior leaders. We showcased our products and our people and opened the door to all our activities. Following our wonderful CEO's non-defensive attitude, we welcomed the team hospitably, and even held a very nice formal reception upon their arrival at the CEO's home. Well, by the end of the week, they said our programs were all super and they would look elsewhere for budget cutting. Yes!

5. Picnic with an enemy. I invited one of the people in our Washington office to a BBQ at our new home while he was visiting here with his family. We have had to coordinate closely over the past 18 months. Prior to that, he had worked here locally (about three years ago), and he and I were not on good terms. Actually, I was on okay terms. However, he and his supervisor did not like me much because I always "seemed to get [my] own way" when we disagreed on how things should be done. Essentially, I was simply concerned that my trainees got the best possible training, and I did know more about that particular kind of training than the two of them did -- but they were unwilling to admit that, did not have particularly good ideas for the training, but felt the need to "win" at all costs. In leaving the BBQ, my colleague noted, emotionally, how wonderful it had been to work together the past 18 months! I love it when enemies become friends -- and breaking bread together never hurts!

6. On Monday, I went up against our CEO's new staff action coordinator. I need to replace my assistant who is leaving on Tuesday, and the new SAC was unwilling to replace him. I would need to jump over him and go to the CEO if he did not budge, but first I had to deal with him. He spent an hour demeaning me, arrogantly making comments about what I do or do not need (he has not been introduced to any of my programs; he cannot possibly know what I need and do not need), pointing out that I was a poor leader because I had not replaced my assistant (but he is the one standing in the way of my replacing him; I pointed out that he was being disingenous, calling me out for not replacing him when he would not let me replace him; he stopped the berating for a minute at that, mainly, I think, because he did not know the meaning of disingenous), and otherwise trying to demonstrate that he was the #1 person for making decisions about what goes on in our organization (i.e. trying to wear his boss's position -- not the first time I was to encounter that this week). I really wanted to deck him, but fortunately there was a table between us! The bottom line is that I won, and the paperwork for my assistant has been submitted to headquarters -- but I am still trying to determine at what cost. At a formal ceremony yesterday, the SAC deliberately snubbed me. Not that I care, but it will be a long two years (the length of his appointment here) if we cannot work this out. While I would like to take aim at him, I guess I am going to have to do what I tell my junior managers to do: learn to love him since he, too, is God's child. Yeah, really, somewhere inside is that God-seed. I wonder how long it will be before I can remember this without deliberately reminding myself. I guess this requires more loving impossible people!

7. Insubordinate subordinates. Usually, I have no problem with subordinates, but this week something went really, truly awry, and I spent most of the past two days trying to bring peace back to my small part of the world. First, my budget manager submitted the budget changes for the remainder of the year without consulting with me; in doing so, he made some major decisions about expenditures and priorities that differ from what my philosophy is and decisions would have been. I had to pull the budget back, which, of course, embarrassed him. I also had to counsel him about not putting himself into my position, i.e. not wearing my hat. He argued for the decisions he had made, but I ultimately had to tell him that my opinion is the one that had final sway. He pouted but made the changes. Later, he wrote me a note of apology and promised to "stay in [his] lane" in the future. I hope this is a watershed experience because he has, at times, intimidated some of my senior managers by implying that he is speaking for me when he is not. Second, likewise, one of the center directors who works for one of the senior managers who works for me often intimidates his employees by referring to a personal friendship between him and me, implying that if they are not happy with his leadership, that is just too bad because no matter what I will be supporting him because of our personal friendship. I have counseled him on this before, noting that one must earn respect on one's own authority and that his orientation is very different from the servant leadership approach that I advocate. (Managers who are not familiar with servant leadership concepts might like to read some of the literature on the topic. This link contains a list of a number of helpful books: servant leadership books on Amazon.) The most blatant recent (yesterday) thing he did was to move, without asking, into the office beside me even before my deputy had finished packing out. He talked my deputy into letting him move in because his office was being remodeled. However, there is an office in another part of the building where his employees are located, but he prefers to rub elbows with the senior managers, which he is not, and that creates more problems between him and his employees. I had to tell him to move out, to move into the office with his employees, and, on Tuesday, the person will be serving temporarily as my deputy will move into that office. Meanwhile, yesterday his employees posted a sign on their office door that said, "la bastille." Obviously, he has created a hostile working environment, so now next week I am going to have to gather them all together along with the center director's supervisor (who works directly for me) and see if I can restore a reasonable working atmosphere. Sheesh!

And to make matters worst, at the end of a week that started not all that well (with my accidentally bringing a small, fliptop can of cat food [instead of tuna] for lunch and ended not all that well (with employees fleeing "la bastille" by none of those in that center showing up for work today), I picked up some fruit at our local grocery store this evening, and the bill came to $6.66. Not that I am superstitious!

Wishing you all a great weekend, including the upcoming Fourth of July holiday for those living in the USA.

Our Amazing Modern World

I posted the following story yesterday on Clan of Mahlou and, upon after thought, figure it might have some interest for readers of 100th Lamb, so here it is.

During the days of the Cold War, when my oldest daughter Lizzie (for some insights into Lizzie, see Lessons from Mom) and I were traveling and living in Russia (see Back in the USSR), we would always say goodbye to friends when we left, realizing that the likelihood of seeing them again was slim, of keeping in contact by writing difficult, and of seeing them in the United States totally impossible. Likewise, a decade later, while living and working in Uzbekistan, I stayed with an elderly teacher by the name of Lida. She was the aunt of one of my colleagues, an immigrant from Moscow, and I became the conduit of information, money, and gifts between them. Both knew that they would never be able to see each other again, politics being what they were, and so I became a living link. Lida always referred to me as "rodnaya," which is a term that one uses with one's flesh-and-blood to demonstrate bonding and love.

It has been ten years since I last saw Lida. When politics became even worse between the USA and Uzbekistan, my consults for the Uzbekistan Ministry of Education dried up. I, too, became resigned to the fact that Lida was part of my history, no longer a part of my life.

Then, the wall fell, and the Soviet Union dissolved. Still, relations with Uzbekistan have remained poor.

Somehow, though, the thaw between the USA and the former Soviet countries in general has had a meliorating effect on tourist visas, and I learned two weeks ago that Lida had received a 3-month visa to visit her relatives in the USA. Today they showed up on my doorstep!

San Ignatio held its annual fiesta today, and I had clean-up duty. None of that deterred us, however. We all got together at the fiesta, enjoying the extraordinary experience of being together in one country, even in San Ignatio. We will, of course, get together again -- and again -- over the next three months in San Ignatio and in the nearby town where Lida's relatives live.

The weather was balmy with a slight breeze today. The sun shone upon us in all senses of that word. A perfect day! One that began with a big hug from Lida and the greeting to "rodnaya." One that ended, as well, with a big hug from Lida and the parting to "rodnaya."

What I learned this day (and have always known): one does not need to share blood to share blood! I also learned something that I have not always known: our modern world is amazing and marvelous. Whoever would have thought that Lida, who befriended me so kindly in Tashkent a decade ago, would be sitting on my sofa today!